Carroll, it is easier for me to navigate Bohemia in my mind because I was born there, but anyone who gets good maps can do the same. But I will try to provide a mental picture here that other may want to share. The most predominant mountains that surround Bohemia, (and there are geological speculations that Bohemia might be a huge crater rimmed by mountains with the lowlands in the middle) are: Lets start in the South-West with the Bohemian-Bavarian Forest which has - to this day - pockets of Virgin forest and has become a National Park. In Czech it is called Sumava. It is the natural border between Bavaria and Bohemia. At the north end of this mountain range, the Eger river breaks through springing from the Oberpfalz, Bavaria, and flowing to the East. This is the Egerland-Oberpfalz connection and both sides spoke the same dialect until the expulsion of the natives. The Eger River was an ancient trade route to the East, towards the confluence with the Elbe River and from there they shipped downriver to the North Sea. To the North of the Eger River is a long stretch of mountains called the Erzbirge which translates to "Ore Mountain" and in Czech it is called Kruzne Hory. These mountains were mined in ancient times by Celts, later by Venetians for Iron Ore, Coal and Silver from where the Joachimsthaler Silver-Thalers were coined. Joachimsthal (Jachimov) has the same impact on Bohemia as perhaps Virginia City has on Nevada. Where the coins were minted, the first mine was developed and belonged to the German Fugger and Welser families who traded with the whole world. This Bohemian Thaler is the base word for our US Dollar. The Erzgebirge separates Bohemia from Saxony to the North and reaches to where the Elbe River cuts through. At that confluence there is a most beautiful area called the Elbsandsteingebirge, and some of these amazing Sandstone formations remind me a bit of Sedona in Arizona or the "painted hills" of Oregon. On the East Side of the Elbe River is the Isergebirge. They are foothills to a large mountain range called "Riesengebirge" (the giant mountains - but not as giant as the Alps) but they are the largest mountains in Bohemia separating Bohemia from Silesia to the North. This mountain range is called "Krokonos" in Czech and is in the "Sudeten Mountains" from which the area was given a collective name for all German settlements in 1938. The ring of these mountains separated the Bohemian lands from Germany. The South East was more open towards Moravia and consequently to Austria in the South. But to complete the theory of the "crater-rim," there is actually another ridge, the so called Bohemian Moravian Ridge (between Iglau and Bruenn) running SW to NE where you can find incredibly large caves with stalagmites and stalagtites. And so, the lowlands of inner Bohemia is indeed ringed by mountains. Germans, being craftsmen, found flint stones and minerals in these mountains to produce tools in the old days, they later produced plow shares or weaponry from the iron ore, and later yet, they had a flourishing glass industry where the famous Bohemian lead-glass was hand cut and shipped throughout the world. Madame Curie found the pitch blende at Joachimsthal for her discovery of Uranium. Don't forget that Bohemia is in the very heart of Europe, it has always been at a cross road from East to West and North to South and ancient people have traveled and settled this area since the stone age. Even today it is a very scenic area to visit and has hot springs and mineral springs where spas developed and the tourist trade was always an important source for business and employment. It is the beauty of this land that attracted Germans and Czechs alike to settle in pockets of empty land side by side. The Slavs arrived in the Bohemian plains when the Mongolian hordes of the East drove them to the West. Mongolia experienced a little ice age which forced them to leave their ancestral land and to seek warmer herding plains. In wandering West they dislodged all other settlements on their way and it created a huge "Voelkerwanderung" (wandering of peoples) which is a story in itself, but it is the basis of how the Slavs came into the Germanic regions as far as the Elbe River and in some instances as far as Thuringia. There is a Slavic wedge in Frankish Realm of Charlemagne. If you look at a map of German and Czech early settlements in Bohemia it looks like a face with freckles all over Bohemia. It was only after the Hussite wars that the Germans were pushed against the mountains. Ancient Slavic people did not like to live in the mountains, they preferred to settle in river valleys and plains, and this is where the language border actually formed. This is just a mini-tidbit of history, but perhaps it will serve as an appetizer to read more of the land from where your ancestors came from. I caution you that each ethnic group has their own version of their own history, and it is wise to read both sides to arrive at a middle. Both ethnic groups have enriched Bohemia, they depended on one another for trade and for food, and they would have peacefully co-existed in their mutual need of one another, if it would not have been for greedy political and religious manipulations from elsewhere. Get a good geographical map and read up on the many beautiful areas of the Bohemian homeland of your ancestors. Aida ------------------------------------- --- Original Message ----- From: <CWarschak(a)aol.com&gt; To: <GERMAN-BOHEMIAN(a)rootsweb.com&gt; Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 11:52 PM Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Birth Certificates from Austria-Hungary